TD-LTE was the flavor of the show at the Mobile Asia Expo held in Shanghai last week, which gathered over 200 industry participants including China's three major carriers, equipment providers such as Lenovo and Huawei, and content providers.

During the three-day exhibition, China Mobile Chairman Xi Guohua said TD-LTE technology had reached maturity in China. The operator's TD-LTE network, which currently covers 15 Chinese cities, will expand to about 100 Chinese cities by the end of the year. Xi also revealed the company will deploy 200,000 base stations and purchase 1 million terminals to fulfill this goal, according to a Tencent news report.

Supplies of terminal devices are the crux to the commercialize success of TD-LTE in China, and the total number of such products is just 166 in the world currently, among which 18 models are smartphones, noted a Xinhua news report.

Xi said 11 TD-LTE smartphones were expected to be launched in the Chinese market this year, including models running on 28-nanometer chips. Next year will be "a golden period" as TD-LTE terminals will be more diversified and developed on a larger scale.

TD-LTE appeared to be the topic of the day at the Mobile Asia Expo in Shanghai as several leading players in the industry showed great interest and rushed to develop related products, according to a report by local site WCC Daily.

During the exhibition, Japanese technology giant Sony, together with China Mobile, jointly released the new Xperia SP M35t smartphone, which is the first mobile kit to support China Mobile's TD-LTE 4G, according to the report. The phone is equipped with support for mobile wallet, mobile video, mobile navigation, and other customized services and Internet applications offered by the Chinese mobile operator.

Announcements at the expo indicated the country was not far away from issuing 4G licenses, a NetEase news report said. It will be a good opportunity for global telecom equipment manufacturers affected by the global economic downturn, as the upcoming large-scale LTE network construction in China will bring about significant sales for these equipment manufacturers.

What's more, the market share of telecom equipment manufacturers in China should also help these companies establish a greater global footprint, the report added.